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    Thermal Paste (0 products)

    Thermal paste, also known as thermal compound or thermal grease, allows for more efficient heat transfer between components. And here at Ebuyer, we stock of range of thermal pastes from trusted brands like Corsair and Cooler Master.

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    What's Thermal Paste and Why's It Necessary?

    The metal lid on top of a processor, the integrated heat spreader (IHS), serves two purposes: to shield the processor's delicate die, and to transfer heat produced by the CPU to the CPU cooler. However, if you were to look at the surface of an IHS under a magnifying glass, you'd notice it's covered in tiny scratches. It's not a perfectly flat surface. Air, a poor conductor of heat, can trap itself in these scratches, reducing heat transfer.

    That's where a thermal interface material, such as thermal paste, comes in. Thermal paste is used to fill in these scratches and create a bond between components for heat to transfer through more efficiently. This ensures that heat is transferred away from the CPU and through to the CPU cooler as quickly as possible, keeping the CPU's temperature low. Without thermal paste, the CPU would start to overheat as soon as it's switched on. Thermal paste is necessary for the CPU and CPU cooler to work effectively.

    Online, you'll sometimes find thermal paste referred to as thermal compound or thermal grease. Most stock coolers and all-in-one coolers have thermal paste pre-applied on their contact plates, while air coolers usually included a tube of it in their box for you to apply yourself. If you've ran out of thermal paste, you can always buy small individual tubes of it here at Ebuyer. A little bit of thermal paste is all that's needed to be effective.

    Reapplying Thermal Paste

    Although most people will only apply it in-between the CPU and CPU cooler, thermal paste is used elsewhere in a computer, too. For example, if you're going all-in on water-cooling, you'll need to apply thermal paste when equipping your graphics card with a custom water block. And, even if it may take years' worth of exposure to heat, thermal paste does eventually dry up and lose its effectiveness. So, you may want to replace your CPU and GPU's thermal paste from time-to-time to ensure optimal heat transfer.

    How to Apply Thermal Paste

    How much thermal paste is needed and how to apply it is frequently debated online. But all you really need is just a pea-sized blob of thermal paste right in the middle of the IHS. Nor do you have to spread the thermal paste over the IHS using a piece of card or anything like that. Once the CPU cooler is screwed down tight, its mounting pressure will be more than enough to distribute the thermal paste evenly across the IHS.

    If it's your first time applying thermal paste, don't worry too much about it. Aim for a pea-sized blob, but if more thermal paste squeezes out of its tube than anticipated, it's easy enough to scoop off. And anyway, we'd rather err on the side of too much thermal paste than too little. Otherwise, the IHS won't be covered corner-to-corner with thermal paste, which can result in overheating.